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Questions and Allen

Questions and Allen

By Allen Firstenberg

Allen Firstenberg answers your questions about designing and developing voice applications for the Google Assistant.
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S1E14 : What are Action Links?

Questions and AllenAug 21, 2020

00:00
05:20
S1E14 : What are Action Links?

S1E14 : What are Action Links?

Allen's Assistant might be jealous, but realizes everything is fine when he discusses Action links - what this little known feature about the Assistant is and how powerful they can be for Marketing or many many other uses.  

Google's documentation: 

  • https://developers.google.com/assistant/engagement/action-links
Aug 21, 202005:20
S1E13: How do Lists and Collections work in Actions Builder?

S1E13: How do Lists and Collections work in Actions Builder?

Sometimes things do change for the better! Although how we handle Lists and Collections with Actions Builder is different, there are some advantages to this new approach. Allen answers your questions about why the new method is better, and how we use Lists and Collections under Actions Builder.

Aug 12, 202005:12
S1E12: How do you provide training phrases for a Carousel or List in Dialogflow?

S1E12: How do you provide training phrases for a Carousel or List in Dialogflow?

Are you having problems with writing training phrases that handle when users select a List option? There's a reason they don't work, and Allen explains why!

Aug 11, 202003:36
S1E11 : What should I build a new Action with? Dialogflow or Actions Builder?

S1E11 : What should I build a new Action with? Dialogflow or Actions Builder?

The new Actions Builder sounds like it's good (it is!), but is it right for my needs? That answer may be more complicated, as Allen explores with the help of a chart from Denis Valášek. (You can see Denis' chart at https://bit.ly/3fsagg6)

Jul 14, 202004:40
S1E10 : Are Actions Builder Scenes just a repaint of Context-based Dialogflow Intents?

S1E10 : Are Actions Builder Scenes just a repaint of Context-based Dialogflow Intents?

Giorgio Robino asked a question about the differences between Scenes in Action Builder and Contexts in Dialogflow. Allen provides an answer!

Jul 13, 202005:11
S1E9 : In Dialogflow, how can we move from one Intent to another?

S1E9 : In Dialogflow, how can we move from one Intent to another?

Your user has said something, and you'd like to move from the Intent you're currently in to a different one. How can you do this? Allen answers that question - but it may not be what you want to hear.

Jul 02, 202003:39
S1E8 : What can we use a card for?

S1E8 : What can we use a card for?

One of the rich response types is a card, but how can we use it effectively? Allen discusses a few ideas, and a couple of things to be careful about.

Jun 24, 202003:36
S1E7 : What kind of responses or prompts can we send?

S1E7 : What kind of responses or prompts can we send?

From "simple" responses to a fully Interactive Canvas and everything in between, Allen takes a quick run-through of what our options are to respond and prompt the user in our Actions.

Jun 23, 202007:12
S1E6 : How does the Assistant know what to send to the user during a scene?

S1E6 : How does the Assistant know what to send to the user during a scene?

During a Scene in the Actions Builder, the Assistant takes several steps to come up with the message to send to the user. Allen explores how it builds the Prompt Queue and what it does.

Jun 22, 202004:12
S1E5 : What is a Scene?

S1E5 : What is a Scene?

The basic building block of the Action Builder is a Scene. But what do we do with it? Allen gives an overview of how a Scene works.

Jun 19, 202004:32
S1E4 : What is the Actions Builder?

S1E4 : What is the Actions Builder?

A new tool to play with! A new tool to confuse us! Allen gives a quick overview of the Actions Builder and Actions SDK and how they differ from Dialogflow.

Jun 18, 202004:30
S1E3 : What is an intent?

S1E3 : What is an intent?

People have lots of questions about what an Intent is and how to use them! Allen answers your questions while his Assistant contributes snark.

Jun 17, 202007:46
S1E2 : What tools can I use to build conversational actions?

S1E2 : What tools can I use to build conversational actions?

Allen takes a look at some of the tools you can use to get started building Actions for the Google Assistant

Jun 16, 202005:18
S1E1 : How do I get started with Actions on Google?

S1E1 : How do I get started with Actions on Google?

Allen answers your questions about how to get started developing for the Google Assistant.

Jun 15, 202003:33